For National Seafood Month (October) this year, I’d like to celebrate Cornish rope grown mussels and encourage more people to cook them at home.
Juicy, sustainable, and nutritious, they are a lower-impact species but often consumed less than industrially caught seafood such as prawns, tuna, cod and salmon.
They’re grown on long ropes out in St Austell Bay, and the best thing about them is they’re incredibly sustainable – feeding off the nutrient-rich water before being harvested, which means there’s no damage to any reefs or the shoreline. This also means they’re super clean with hardly any beards to cut off before cooking.
They’re also great value at around a tenner for two decent bowlfuls, of which you can do so many recipes. I love classic moules marinière with onion, white wine and parsley, or, as below, mussels with spinach and cider – perfection!
Mussels with spinach and cider
Ingredients:
1.75kg mussels
Handful of spinach leaves (when in season, these could be swapped for wild garlic)
2 shallots, finely chopped
15g butter
100ml Cornish cider, or your favourite local equivalent
Plenty of crusty bread to soak up the sauce
Method:
1. Wash the mussels under plenty of cold, running water. Discard any open ones that won’t close when tapped on a board.
2. Pull off any tough, fibrous beards attached to the tightly closed shells. Give the mussels another quick rinse to remove any little pieces of shell.
3. Soften shallots in the butter in a large pan.
4. Add the mussels and cider, turn up the heat, then cover and steam them open in their own juices for 3-4 minutes. Give the pan a good shake every now and then.
5. Add spinach and remove from the heat and allow to wilt.
6. Spoon into four large warmed bowls and serve with plenty of crusty bread.
Jack Stein is chef director at Rick Stein Restaurants. You can buy Cornish rope grown mussels from Rick Stein online for £10.
